Life-boat



(N Model.)

4 Sheets-Sheet l. A. Ba BOYLES. LIFE BOAT.

Patented Feb. 10, 1885..

4 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. B. BOYLES.

LIFE BOAT.

Patented'eb.. 10, 1885.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

S nh. T YM 0B DQR ,.P.. BM A d d 0 M o m Patented Feb. 10, 1885.

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N PETERS Plnlo Lllhoglapher Willi D C @iff/7 8 (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. A. B. BOYLES.

LIFE BOAT. No. 311,868. Patented Feb. 10,1885.

NV PETERS. Plww-mlwgruphar. wnshmsm. n, c.

Unirse Starts AUGUSTINE B. BOYLES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,868, dated February l0, 1885. Application nieu July 1r, 1884. (No miei.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUs'rINE B. Bornes, of Boston, in the county 4of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Life-Boats, which will, in connection with the accompanying drawings, be hereinafter fully described, and specitically defined in the` appended claims.

This invention has for its object certain improvements in lifeboats and other small open craft which from their use are exposed to high seas, the danger of being overturned in launching, and shipping water when loaded; and it consists in the construction and combination of the divers devices embodied therein. as will, in connection with the accompanying drawings, be hereinafter more particularly and fully set forth and claimed.

In said drawings, Figure 0 is aperspectivc view of the frame ofmy boat. Fig. l is a side elevation of my boat as rigged, equipped, loaded, and under sail. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of my boat without the sailing appliances. Fig. 3 is a midship transverse section ot'niy boat. Fig. Lisa plan view of my boat as when turned keel up. Fig. 5 is a sectional plan View taken as in Fig. 2, but showing the boat as with the ceiling removed and the section horizontal and taken between the top of the keel andthe bottom of the thwarts. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section similar to 3. 4Fig. 7 is a detached plan view of a portion of the keel-shoe, showing the form of the water vents or scuppers out therein.

Among the desired characteristics of lifeboats the followipg may be deemed of prime importance: iirst, that they be self -righting, in order that if overturned in launching, which is a not infrequent mishap, they will automatically right themselves, second, that they be self-hailing, in order that any water which they may ship, either by such overturning or when riding rough seas, will escape from the boat by the law of vspeciiic gravity; third, that the boat shall float, even though one or more holes may be made in her walls. Ihese several results I accomplish by the means next to be described.

Referring, again, to the drawings, cc repre! sent the two sides of the keel, which sides are arranged with a space between them, as shown, and are secured in such relation by bolts b, which, by interior nuts or xed collars and exterior screw-nuts, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, serve to unite and hold parts c iixedly in place.

To the lower edges of sides a., I secure, as shown, the shoe c, in which are formed a series of vents or scuppers, d, which are flared outward from the longitudinal center of"`tle` shoe, as shown in Fig. 7, and are inclined downward from such center, as shown in Fig. 6. To the keel thus formed I secure the stem @and sternpost f, at the respective ends thereof, and along the sides of each half of the keel I secure the ribs F, between which I arrange vthe chocks h,.which are each of the same width as the ribs, ro which they are secured at their junction therewith. At a proper distance from the stem and stern-postl arrange a bulkhead, t', secured to a pair of ribs, E, and which constitute, with the outer covering and decks j, water-tight compartments.

I form my outside covering or planking of two thin layers of cedar, 7c lc, between which I arrange a continuous sheetorlayer of cloth, Z, and the sheathing is formed in like manner of two thicknesses of cedar, u1, m, with the continuous cloth Z inclosed between them; and when thus planked and sealed the respective spaces between the keel and chocks l1J and between said chocks and the gunwales each constitute a separate air-chamber that in case others should be by accident 4broken into serves to sustain the boat and its load. By forming scuppers d at right angles, or nearlyr so, to the space between sides c 'of the keel the water cannotbe dashed in jets into the boat upon its occupants, while any water that the boat may ship, as shown at q, Fig. 6, will pass downward between the halves of the keel and out through the scuppers, as shown by the arrows in said ligure, the depth of ribs E being such that when the boat is immersed to its load-line the water-level will be below the sheathing m, and hence the boat will be free from water, except when from the` roughness ofthe sea it shall break into the boat, in which event it passes out, as stated.

Upon the outer part of the bottom of shoe c, I secure the protecting metal plates p, and upon outer planking, k, I secure the thin steel plates n, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6.

I am well aware that it is not new to arrange air-tight compartments between the inner and outer walls of water-craft, or to arrange such compartments in the bow and stern; hence I make no claim thereto.

I am also aware that it is not new to construct boatswith ribs of sufcient depth that the load-line will be below the floor, and with openings in the keel to allow the water to escape from the boat; but I am, I believe, the first to form said openings or waterways indirect, or in two directions, and so as to prevent the water from being forced violently up into the boat by the pitching thereof; and I am, I believe, the first to combine in the same boat such selfhailing water-ways and air-tight compartments, as by such vents in the keel the air confined beneath the boat while it is overturned will escape till the boat has so far settled that it is buoyed by the stem and stern air-tanks, when, if constructed with the outline of cross-section shown in my drawings, even the slight motion of the water will roll it over and right it, and hence it becomes both a self-righting and self-hailing boat.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the keel formed with two halves extending from the stem to the stern-post, and having a coincident waterspace between them, of a shoe secured to the lower edges of the two halves of the keel, and having formed therein the lateral vents or scuppers for the escape of the water from the space between said halves of the keel, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the keel formed with a longitudinal water-space between the halves thereof: of a shoe secured to said keel and closing the space or water-way between the halves thereof, and having the lateral vents or scuppers, respectively, formed with a bottom line descending from the longitudinal vertical center of the shoe outward, and with side lines flaring outward or diverging from said longitudinal center, in manner as specilied.

' 3. Ilhe combination of a keel formed in two longitudinal halves, respectively, united with the stem and stern-post, and secured one to the other, and having a continuous waterspace between them, a series of ribs secured at their inner ends to said halves of the keel, and constituting the cross-section frames of the boat, and of a depth to allow the connection of the outer planking and inner sheathing with said keel respectively at the top and bottom thereof, and -said outer planking and inner sheathing secured to said keel, and transverse ribs, whereby a series of compartments are formed upon each side of the keel between the inner and outer wall of the boat, and eX- tendingfto the bottom of the keel, and a water-space is formed between the compartments on the respective sides of the boat, substantially as speciiied.

4. The Combination, with a single stem and stern-post, of a keel longitudinally divided, and having the ends thereof, respectively, united with said stem and stern-post, and having also a continuous water-space between said halves, and a series of stays passing through and uniting said halves of the keel, whereby the halves of the boat are united at its central longitudinal line by means of the stem and stern-post and said stays of the divided keel, yet a continuous water-way is provided between the stein and stern-post, substantially as specified.

AUG UsTINE B. BoYL'Es.

Witnesses:

THoMAs W. PORTER, EUGENE HUMPHREY. 

